


revelations

by imposterhuman



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Apologies, Aquaphobia, BAMF Pepper Potts, Bad Team Dynamics, Gen, Hopeful Ending, Hurt Tony Stark, Hurt/Comfort, Not A Fix-It, Not Clint Friendly, Not Natasha Friendly, Not Steve Friendly, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Pepper Potts, Team as Family, Tony Stark Angst, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, absolute abuse of italics, cough avengers cough, im sorry i just like italics, it doesnt just go away if you ignore it, its a screwy family but they're working on it, no magic poof to deal with trauma, steves kindof a dick here, trauma is a big deal guys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-10-23
Packaged: 2019-08-06 06:46:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16383323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imposterhuman/pseuds/imposterhuman
Summary: An unfortunate team bonding attempt leads to revelations on Tony's history.Or, the Avengers are ill-equipped to deal with PTSD and Pepper Potts gives them a lesson.featuring pepper potts as my queen(trigger warning: this discusses afghanistan/torture, nothing too graphic, but be safe reading it lovelies!)EDIT: thank you trolls! this is literally a fic related in no way to cw and yall decided to bring that up in the comments and bash me for liking tony! comments are now moderated.





	revelations

**Author's Note:**

> seriously why do i keep doing these angsty fics this was supposed to be fLUFF
> 
> also short
> 
> oops
> 
> (i'll admit i kinda gave up on the ending because i didn't know how to end it without another 15 pages of rambling so i mean here it is)

Tony woke up screaming. It was the tenth night in a row in which the same nightmare got him; shrapnel, water, Yinsen’s death, the usual cocktail of fear leftover from his extended stay in Afghanistan. He laughed without mirth. At least this time he managed to stay asleep for more than an hour. Ten days on about as many hours of sleep, and Tony was surprised that he hadn't crashed yet.

He knew what triggered them, the nightmares, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it. Not without coming off as callous and heartless, and he didn’t need more reinforcement about his lack of a heart.

_Tony walked into the kitchen, feeling light after a whole night of sleep. He had plans for today; he was going to get through at least half of the R &D proposals on his desk and then start working on an upgraded version of the Widow’s Bites for Nat’s birthday, which was the next week. _

_“Morning,” Clint said, sidling up to the genius. “I was wondering-”_

_Tony held up a hand. “I’m going to stop you right there. No arrow requests until I finish my coffee.”_

_Clint looked bashful. “It’s not arrows, it’s for Nat.”_

 

_“You have my attention, continue.”_

_“I was wondering if we could install a pool? She loves to swim, it helps her, and I think it’d be perfect for her birthday.” Clint didn’t even turn to look at Tony, who had gone sheet white._

 

I won’t build your weapons, I won’t, I won’t I won’t i won’t-

_“Geez, Stark, it was just an idea,” Clint muttered, mistaking Tony’s silence for refusal. “Just thought you’d want to be nice for once, that’s all.”_

_Clint still hadn't turned around. Tony took a steadying breath, forcing the flashback away. “It’s a good idea, Birdbrain,” he said confidently. “I’ll have some builders come it and install one on one of the lower floors.” Tony wanted the pool as far away from him as possible. Without waiting for a response, Tony ran out of the kitchen, making it to his lab before the panic attack hit. JARVIS locked down the lab, and Tony cried._

_So much for productivity._

Nat’s birthday had come and gone, and she loved the pool. She had tried to make Tony swim, going so far as to threaten to throw him in, but Tony had run off and locked himself in the lab, much to the disapproval of the rest of the team. They called him selfish and rude, but Tony could handle that, preferred it, even, to what they’d call him if they saw him break down at the sight of the water.

_Weak, pathetic._

It had been ten days since Tony had even showered, for god’s sake, because he couldn’t stand the idea of being under the water. Luckily, during a previous episode, he had the foresight to buy a metric ton a baby wipes. They’d have to do until he got his shit together.

Tony stared at the clock. It was 8 a.m., someone was bound to be up and in the kitchen. Tony didn’t particularly want to see anyone, not like this, but he knew that it was better to get the interaction out of the way early. If one of the team members saw him in the morning, nobody bothered him for the rest of the day. All they needed was they daily confirmation that their golden goose was alive and well, Tony thought bitterly. Nobody had asked how he was in ten days.

\-----

Unfortunately, today was the day that the team decided Tony _needed_ to join them in the pool, for team bonding.

“For the last time,” Tony nearly growled. “I’m not going in the fucking pool.” He had tried excuses, citing work, meetings, general brattiness, anything he could think of to escape. Finally, he decided to play his trump card and call Pepper.

All of the Avengers were scared of Pepper.

“JARVIS, call Pepper,” he called out tersely to his AI, who complied silently.

“Tony? What’s up?” Pepper said over the phone, sounding concerned. Tony rarely called during the day, and JARVIS had never flashed a warning on her screen before, telling her to _please play along with Sir, I fear for his health_.

“Pep, light of my life, please tell the Avengers that I can’t attend their team bonding session because we have a meeting? They don’t seem to believe me.” For good reason, as there was no meeting. It was Pepper’s day off, and Tony knew that, seeing as it was his policy that she take a mandatory day at least once every two weeks.

“Am I on speaker?” She asked, and at Tony’s affirmative, she continued coolly. “Avengers, I understand that none of you have actual jobs besides the Avengers, but Mr. Stark runs a multibillion dollar company on top of several other jobs that he does so you don’t have to. Our meeting today is about SI and the Avengers, so unless one of you wants to take over his myriad of responsibilities, I suggest that you let him attend.”

The team looked cowed. “Sorry, Pepper,” they chanted as one, even as Clint gave Tony the stink-eye and Steve did his disappointed eyebrows.

Internally, Tony sighed in relief. Thank god for Pepper Potts.

 

\-----

 

“Are you going to tell me what happened?” Pepper said, carding her fingers through Tony’s hair. After she hung up, he had ran out of the Tower to Pepper’s apartment, where he had all but collapsed in her arms. “You haven’t called me for an out in months.”

“They want me to swim,” he said quietly. “And I said no, but they won’t listen. Natasha threatened to throw me in.”

Pepper stiffened, angry. “How dare they? And since when do you have a pool? I thought you got rid of them after…” she trailed off.

“Nat really wanted one, and Clint kinda sorta guilt tripped me into it,” Tony conceded.

Pepper felt herself fill with fury. “Natasha and Clint, the SHIELD agents who know exactly why you don’t like water?” she asked, deadly calm.

“They probably don’t know? I did hack my file. Please don’t kill them, Pep,” Tony said weakly.

“I won’t,” she vowed. “But I’m going to make them wish I did.” How dare they treat their teammate like this? Pepper had never liked the Avengers, had thought they treated Tony like shit, but she had kept her mouth shut because Tony obviously cared for them. She wasn't going to keep her mouth shut any longer, though.

 

Tony, sensing her plan, asked tiredly, “How much are you going to tell them?”  
  
“How much have you?” she countered.

 

“Nothing. Nobody asked, I didn’t volunteer it. How are you supposed to bring that up in conversation?” he said bitterly.

 

“How much will you let me tell them?”

 

“I trust you,” Tony said, in lieu of a real answer. “I trust your judgement.”

 

\-----

 

“What the _fuck_ is wrong with all of you?” Pepper cried, not even greeting the assembled Avengers (minus Bruce, because yelling at a giant green rage monster was a little above her paygrade. But she did leave him a strongly worded voicemail and a text to listen to it in the Hulk Room) before going off on them. “Are all of you _blind_?”

 

Steve looked confused. “I think I speak for all of us when I say we have no idea what’s going on here, Pepper.”

 

“That’s Ms. Potts to you, Rogers,” Pepper replied coldly. “You lost the right to call me by what my friends call me when you ignored my best friend’s clear trauma because it wasn’t convenient for you to look.”

 

“What trauma?” Clint said cockliy. “What could a billionaire possibly have to be traumatized about? Did his daddy not love him enough?”

 

“Clint,” Steve reprimanded. Pepper almost nodded approvingly at him, but caught herself when he kept talking. “Don’t talk about Howard that way, he was a good man.”

 

With that, Pepper exploded. “Rogers, you knew Howard for what, a year? Two? You know _nothing_ about that man, and nothing about what he did. Barton, get your head out of your fucking ass and understand that Tony’s wealth has no bearing on whether or not he can suffer. He’s been through more than you can even _imagine,_ so get off of your high fucking horse. Howard Stark was an abusive and manipulative _asshole_ who didn’t care about Tony one bit. Which you’d have known if you opened your goddamned eyes and saw that Tony checks every single box for an abuse victim.”

 

Steve spluttered uselessly at the harsh words against Howard, trying to think up a defense. Natasha, who had been silent up until then, chose to speak up. “Pepper-” Pepper glared. “Ms. Potts, I don’t think you have the full story about our recent interactions.”

 

“Enlighten me, then, Romanoff, but I’m pretty sure I do. After all, it's not like every single interaction in this tower is taped and JARVIS gave me a neat little summary.”  
  
Natasha wavered, but kept talking. “Tony was refusing to come to team building exercises. He’s just throwing a tantrum, and he got you involved, which was a low, even for him.”

 

Pepper itched to scream, but all of her years as CEO taught her that once you lose control of your emotions, you lose the battle. “Tony came to me after suffering ten days of nightmares and flashbacks. This isn’t a tantrum, and if you _ever_ refer to his PTSD that way again, to me or to him, I will hit you with an emotional distress lawsuit faster than you can fucking blink, don’t test me,” she said lowly, ice in her voice. “His refusal to participate stems from a fear of water. Which is fucking typical if you’re waterboarded for three months.” Even Romanoff looked aghast at that, but Pepper wasn’t finished. “Have any one of you asked him about Afghanistan? No? Rogers, you asked every single other member of your team about trauma in their pasts, saying you wanted to help. You asked Barton and Banner about their family issues and Romanoff about the Red Room. Where was your help for Tony? Why didn’t he deserve the same courtesy?”

 

Clint somehow still found the audacity to question her. “Potts, all due respect, but I think you’re blowing things out of proportion. Stark is fine.”

 

“Shut the fuck up, Barton. If the next words out of your mouth aren't _begging for forgiveness_ , I swear I will end you.” Pepper took a breath to compose herself. “I don’t know the whole story, because I couldn’t make myself learn what _terrorists_ did to my best friend to _torture him_. But here’s what I do know.

 

“Tony has shrapnel in his chest because a bomb went off right next to him. He had surgery, in a _cave_ , with no anaesthetic, where a fucking _car battery_ was put in his chest. He had pieces of his sternum hacked out to fit it in there, because car batteries aren’t small. He was awake the whole time.” At this, Pepper paused, trying to marshall her tears back into her eyes. This was not the time to show weakness. “He was drowned and electrocuted by the battery several times a day, because the people that took him wanted his weapons. Even when he said yes, they didn’t stop. He built the first suit while being tortured. I couldn’t get through everything they did to him without being sick. I had to stop after the waterboarding, the beatings, the _electrocution._

 

“Long story short, he took that suit that he and the doctor with him built and escaped, then spent days walking around the desert. The doctor didn’t make it out, and Tony has held onto _that_ guilt ever since.” Pepper smiled a dark, humorless smile. “The worst part? All of this was organized by Tony’s godfather. He let you guys in, which I didn't think he’d ever be able to do again, not after what the last man he trusted did to him. And yet, he put his trust in all of you, and what did you do?”   
  
Steve looked like a kicked puppy. “Pepper, I… We didn’t know,” he whispered brokenly.

 

“You didn’t ask,” she replied. She threw a flash drive at him and he caught it reflexively. “These are all of the videos and medical files that I have access to. I have to hand it to Tony, he learned from Stane. Nothing on the arc reactor is in those files. I’m not even sure anything on the arc reactor _exists_.”

 

“Why not?” Clint asked, subdued.

 

“He told his godfather, and then the man ripped it out of his chest and left him to die,” Pepper spat. With that, she stalked out of the room, high heels clicking angrily.

 

“What have we done?” Steve said, horrified.  

 

\-----

 

Two days later, Tony made his way back to the Tower. Luck was not on his side, however, because he immediately ran into all of the Avengers. If Tony didn’t know better, he’d’ve said they were sad.

 

“Just here for some coffee,” Tony said, stoically ignoring their gazes. “Don’t mind me, I’ll be out of your hair in a minute.”

 

Steve let out a wounded noise. “Tony, I…” He faltered.

 

Natasha took over. “Tony, we want to apologize. We haven’t been good teammates to you, and we’re sorry.”

 

Tony’s mouth twisted bitterly. “What is it you want this time?” he said, resigned.

 

“What?” Clint asked.

 

“The only reason,” Tony said slowly, as if talking to a child. “that people apologize to me is if they want something.

 

Steve made that sad noise again. “Tony, no,” he said softly. “We’ve been terrible to you, and we feel bad. No strings.”

 

Tony looked flabbergasted. “Am I dying again? Is that why people are being nice to me?” There was no bite in his voice, no malice, just genuine curiosity, as if he couldn’t fathom why people would be nice to him.

 

“Dying _again_?” Steve squeaked.

 

 _Palladium_ , Natasha mouthed at him.

 

Clint shook his head. “We just saw some things that put a lot in perspective for us, and we’re hoping that you can forgive us for being massive assholes.”

 

“Pepper showed up, didn’t she.” Tony said wryly. At the team’s collective nod, he continued. “She probably made it sound worse than it was. Which bits did she tell you about?”

 

“Afghanistan,” Natasha said hoarsely. “And she gave us the videos.”

 

Tony sighed. “Can’t say she exaggerated that one, even _she_ doesn’t know the half of it, and the videos don’t cover much. Listen,” he said. “I’m the same person I was before. If you didn’t care about my trauma then, why do you now? Is this a pity thing?”

 

Clint spoke up before anyone else could. “It’s not a pity thing. We just needed to get our heads out of our asses, and Ms. Potts was kind enough to do that for us.”  
  
“Ms. Potts, huh?” Tony smirked. “You got CEO Pepper. Even _I_ don’t get CEO Pepper.” It escaped no one’s notice that Tony was deflecting.

 

Steve swallowed hard. “Tony, please give us the chance to make this up to you,” he begged.

 

“Movie night is tonight,” Natasha said gently. “We can watch trashy sci-fi and criticize the science?”

 

Tony took a deep breath. “I’d like that,” he said softly, to the genuine smiles of his teammates.

 

\-----

 

His team wasn’t perfect, Tony mused, but maybe they’d get there.

 

As he sat, curled up with Nat on one of the couches, surrounded by his ~~friends~~ family, he thought that maybe, just maybe, he could start to heal.

**Author's Note:**

> comments and kudos and i'll spare you in my inevitable world domination scheme
> 
> <3


End file.
